Sermon Tone Analysis

*The Folly of Unwise Counsel*

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*2 Chronicles 10:1-19 (ESV) \\ \\ *

*Introduction: Example of Unwise Decisions*

 

Many of us have probably done things that were not very wise.

I imagine the wisdom, or lack of it, of a particular decision, is not always apparent to us at the time.

My life is replete with instances of unwise decisions, some I would just like to forget.

I am sure my wife could probably mention many of these, even some that I have /conveniently/ forgotten.

I do remember not too long ago, I brought home my father’s wooden gun cabinet.

It had stood in my parent’s house /for years/ without incident.

This cabinet had a door that was framed in wood with a glass insert, which allowed you to see what was displayed inside.

Well, I brought the cabinet home, late one night, and thought I would just leave it faced up on the back of our truck until morning.

It was late and I just wanted to wait until the next day to bring it into the house.

But I was thoughtful.

I carefully covered the cabinet, front and back, with several comforters, feeling sure that would keep it safe.

And safe it was…until…our 13lb cat, who we allow to roam outside, decided to jump onto the cabinet.

Needless to say, the glass insert didn’t stand a chance, the glass was shattered, made a complete mess, and now I have to replace it.

As unwise as the gun cabinet incident was, it probably does not come close to this next story.

When I was in college, I had a red 2-door Nissan Pulsar with T-Tops.

I loved that car.

I would often drive to school with the tops off, enjoying the cool brisk air running through the car.

One night I decided to ride home from school with the tops off…so, /while/ I was driving on Interstate 95, I decided to remove the tops from the car.

I reached up pulled the handle to unlock it, and to my /complete/ surprise the top proceeded to fly backwards off of the car and onto the road.

I held onto it as long as I could, all of about 5 seconds or so, and finally had no choice but to let it go.

Cruising 60mpg on the open road is not really conducive to removing the tops from a car.

I wish I knew that at the time.

I remember looking into my driver side mirror and seeing sparks emanating on the road from what used to be the roof of my car.

Well, I pulled over and tried to find what was left of it, but it was nighttime and I could not find it.

So, I drove on home, with half a roof on my car, got home, and proceeded through the living room in search of a flashlight.

My father, who was sleeping on the couch, was awaken from my entering the house.

He saw the commotion of my searching for a flashlight and asked what I was doing.

Have you ever had those situations where you really wished you didn’t have to explain what you were doing?

That was one of them.

I told my father that was looking for a flashlight, and then continued my search.

That answer did not satisfy him.

So, he asked me why I was looking for a flashlight.

I can still hear his response when I told him that I lost the roof of my car /while/ driving home.

I am sure that if I had asked my father whether I should remove the T-Top from a car while driving, he would have lovingly imparted his wisdom to me and instructed me to not do such a foolish thing.

I think wisdom is proportional to one’s age.

The older you become, the wiser you should be.

I hope that I am now wiser than I was when I was driving with half a roof.

Of course, neither of these examples really had any consequence except for in my own life.

As far as I know, neither the gun cabinet incident nor the T-Top incident was a threat to peace between me and anyone else or a threat to national security.

However, the passage we read earlier is an example of how an unwise decision can have devastating impact on a nation.

After his father’s death, Rehoboam, the new king of Israel, had an opportunity to keep the nation together and to earn the people’s trust.

However, as we read, he chose a different path.

The title of this sermon is “The Folly of Unwise Counsel”, but it could easily be “The Man Who Divided a Nation.”

*Context:*

 

Our passage this morning begins with “all of Israel” gathering for the coronation of their new king, Rehoboam.

The use of the phrase “all Israel” here is quite deliberate and refers to all of the tribes of Israel.[1]

The whole nation came to celebrate their new king.

Rehoboam had inherited all of his wealth, honor, and title from his father, Solomon, and was to be the ruler of God’s chosen people.

Along with these however, Rehoboam had also inherited some of the promises of God.

One promise was something he probably received with great pleasure.

This promise was given to his grandfather David a few decades earlier in 2 Samuel 7:16,

  \\ “Your house and your kingdom shall endure /forever/ before me; your throne shall be established /forever/."

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Rehoboam probably felt very secure in this promise.

After all, God had promised to establish David’s throne and had said that he would /always/ have descendants that would rule in Israel.

Some may consider this “job security”.

Of course, we know that Jesus, a descendant of David, would eventually become the fulfillment of /that/ promise, the King whose throne will never end.

\\ \\ Rehoboam also inherited another promise.

This one had been given to Solomon because Solomon turned from God and worshipped other gods in his later years.

Consequently, God told Solomon that he was going to tear the kingdom from him and give it to his servant.

In 1 Kings 11:31-32, God tells us,

\\ *31* …Ahijah [the prophet] said to Jeroboam, “…for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon and will give you ten tribes *32* but [Solomon] shall have one tribe, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel,”

 

While Rehoboam inherited all of Israel, he was living under the promise that some day it would be divided.

As God said, most of Israel would be torn away from either his or his descendant’s hand, and would be given to someone who was not from David’s lineage.

I am sure that this second promise was not a very pleasant one to Rehoboam.

We read that this did happen to Rehoboam.

What caused the promise of the kingdom being torn away to be fulfilled during Rehoboam’s reign?

More importantly, why did it occur so suddenly in his reign?

He had just been made king when these events occurred.

Well, I think the passage reveals some things about this event and the mistakes that Rehoboam made.

These mistakes stand as an example and a warning to us in how we should live our lives.

When Solomon died, the people of Israel were ready to support their new king.

We already mentioned that “all Israel had come…to make [Rehoboam] king.”

They only asked from their new king for some assurances.

They said to Rehoboam,

 

*4* “Your father made our yoke heavy.

Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us, and we will serve you.”

The “heavy yoke” and “hard service” which the people are referring to are most probably the forced labor and high taxes that Solomon imposed on them.

Solomon had conscripted many people and laid many taxes, some to complete his various building projects, including the Great Temple in Jerusalem.[2] Their request doesn’t seem to be particularly unreasonable.

In what appears to be the /only/ wise thing he did, Rehoboam waited three days before replying to the people and then sought the advice of the elders who served with his father Solomon.

They were no doubt familiar with Solomon’s practices, both good and bad, and had a lot of useful information and a wealth of experience to impart to Rehoboam.

They advised him to react sympathetically to the demands of the people.

They said,

 

“If you will be good to this people and please them and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.”

I like the way the passage in 1 Kings 12:7 renders this… \\ \\

*7*…“If you will be a *servant* to this people today and *serve* them, and speak good words to them when you answer them, then they will be your *servants* forever.”

Perhaps to Rehoboam, this may not have seemed like very good advice for a new king of a nation.

After all, shouldn’t the king be a strong leader?

Should he ever be perceived as being weak?

Maybe Rehoboam thought this.

However, we know there is nothing weak about being kind to one another, even for a leader.

We are even told to /serve/ one another.

Wasn’t it the King of Kings who came to serve?

No, being a servant is not a sign of weakness but a sign of strength.

Rehoboam apparently did not see this.

Instead, he turned to the young men with whom he had grown up.

They, like him, probably had been born into wealth and may have had little compassion for the common people.

These young men advised him to say,